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1.5.1-Aphraseremains
Brick!Club 1.5.1 A tale of the progress in the making of beads + 1.5.2 Madeleine 1.5.1 Man, Valjean lucks out, doesn’t he? Comes to town still with the identity papers problem: there’s a convenient fire and no one asks for them. Makes some changes to the bracelet making process: becomes a millionaire. 1.5.2 I’m really interested by the ongoing thing with gossip Hugo’s got going here. The town gossips in Paris talking about how unsurprising Tholomyes abandoning Fantine is, the people in Montfermeil assuming Fantine has abandoned Cosette and watching this poor five-year-old child be abused without doing anything but giving her a symbolic and upsetting nickname, and the gossips here all trying to interpret Madeleine’s actions in the worst/most self-interested light they can manage. Obviously, Hugo is not a fan of gossips. It really struck me here, though. As a narrative technique it allows us to learn about Madeleine without being told directly about him (avoiding Hugo having to directly admit that he’s Valjean), lets us see how the town grows to see him, and, I think, puts the reader on his side against the assholes judging him… for being charitable and religious? (Which, speaking of, I’m interested and amused by the bit about how the deputy reacts to Madeleine’s piety and how “political rivalry in those days was, almost literally, a race to the altar-steps”. People have some reason to be dubious about Madeleine, I guess. Does the ‘in those days’ mean that by the time Hugo’s writing this religion was a less relevant factor for politicians?) But I feel like there’s also something going on with gossip as standing there talking (often maliciously) and not attempting to fix things or help people. (And assuming that Madeleine who is doing things to better the world around him must have ulterior motives.) Though Madeleine could be doing better on the front of his moral expectations for his workers. sigh. Why is your primary criteria for the women their ‘pure morals’? I mean, I don’t think we’re supposed to approve of this, since this rule in particular and the social judgment it’s associated with is going to screw Fantine over completely, and I do think it is necessary that Valjean have some responsibility for what happens to Fantine. But I don’t understand why he thought this was the way to go and the point to be ‘inflexible’ and ‘intolerant’ on. Much like the question of where he got his bracelet making knowledge from, I feel Hugo had room for a couple of paragraphs of extra explanation, at least. Although I suppose ‘where did he get his judgmental opinions of women’s sexual purity from?’ is an easier question than ‘where did he learn anything about jet bracelets?’ Despite how incongruous and frustrating it seems to me, it’s not like he’s likely to have encountered anything at this point that would make him rethink society’s general position on that or relate his own desire not to be defined entirely by his past mistakes to it. My feelings on this point are not very coherent, I’m afraid. I don’t know what to make of “when he refused to accept honours they said ‘He’s an adventurer’.” What do the other translations have for ‘adventurer’? What is the assumption the gossips are making here? Also, the children calling him Père Madeleine “drew from him his warmest smile”. Oh Valjean. You make me so emotional even when I’m not sure why. Commentary Pilferingapples "Valjean Lucks Out": phrases we will not soon have reason to use again. FMA has ambition as “a steeplechase” which is a nice bit of wordplay and made me grin. Which translation are you using, again? I like the “race to the altar-steps” thing too; “steeplechase” is just so perfect, though! Ah, one factish thing I can help with! An “adventurer” was more “a venture capitalist” in this sense- ” a venture -r”, venturing money. Someone who financed a flleet of merchant ships would be an adventurer. YAY I KNOW A THING. The kids, augh, it kills me, because he had his sister’s kids as his driving motivation for the only part of his life he ever lived in even technical freedom and now they’re gone and *chokes up* Aphraseremains (reply to Pilferingapples) But at least this once he gets to have improbably good luck! Oh Valjean. I’m using the Norman Denny translation, though I’m beginning to regret it. Ah, that makes sense. Thanks for the explanation. :)